5 More Weeks!!

As usual Tuesday is our doctor day! Dr. Diggs had previously told me that Ashlynne had better stay still over Memorial Day weekend because that was his weekend off...she followed directions very well!! Yesterday's visit brought good news! I'm a little over 50% effaced, and still 2 cm dilated...bed rest must doing the trick! We have progressed however, Ashlynne is fully engaged below the pelvic bone. I knew something was different because now all of her movement has been in my lower tummy! On the sonogram you could see that my cervix was funneling and you could see her head resting comfortably on my cervix. Comfortable for her...not really for me. I'm actually surprised that she hasn't pushed it open anymore LOL! It's amazing how much things have changed. She's actually been engaged for about a week now.

Her facial features are easily seen on the sonogram now. She has big beautiful eyes (like mine LOL) and lips like her fathers. We can see her nose, but it's not clear who's nose she has. All I know is that she is going to be a beauty...like her momma! She now weighs in at 4 1/2 pounds and everything looks good!!! Not much longer!

Dr. Diggs and I discussed that if Ashlynne isn't here by week 38 then that I would be induced at 38 weeks. After 38 weeks it's considered safe to deliver. Part of my reason for being excited about being induced is work related. Since being put on bed rest, I've exhausted all of my time off. Ashlynne would have to be 6 weeks old to start daycare when school starts for me. If she goes to her July 15th due date, I would have to miss the 1st 2 weeks of the year..10 days of work. I only get 10 days a year so if my baby ever got sick I would have to take off and get docked each day. Being induced allows me to go back to work on time and keep my sick/personal days. I actually don't want to miss the first of the year..that's the most exciting part!

So according to my real due date, I have 7 more weeks. I like the induced time of 5 weeks better! 5 weeks is SOOOOO close. The funny thing is dead on with my original due date of July 4th! So by the 1st part of July my family will go from 2 to 3!

I can't wait!

Another visit.....ugh

So, as I blogged before, last Sunday was not a good day. Well, Wednesday began to feel like Sunday and I wasn't taking any chances so I called Dr. Diggs to see what he suggested. He said it sounded like normal pregnancy discomfort, but because I had already had the bleeding, contractions, and the fact that my cervix was already shortening he didn't want to take any chances. I was told to go to labor and delivery and have them check me out. They discovered that I was already 50% effaced and about 2 cm dilated. I had to stay on the monitor for a while so they could make sure I wasn't having any contractions. Luckily, I wasn't. Just as they were about to let me go home, I started having contractions. So I was told that I would be staying the night until the contractions stopped. Ugh! The contractions were coming every 4-6 minutes, but they weren't painful. I could just feel my stomach tightening up. We figured out part of the reason my contractions were coming so early was because I had yet another bladder infection!! That's like my 2nd one in about a month. I've NEVER had one before and I get 2 in the span of a month!! How crazy is that?!?! LOL

Anyway, I stayed the night and I was given some meds for the bladder infection through and IV and something they gave me literally knocked me clean out for the night. I was asleep within a matter of minutes! I have to admit, that was the best sleep I'd had in a long time.

So I had to be honest with the doctor when he asked how much I was following the bed rest rule, truthfully, I followed it about 80-85% of the time. So he really stressed to me that he needed me to follow it 100% of the time.

I've pretty much done that since I've been out of the hospital. My only day to get up and out is when I get to go to the doctor on Tuesdays. Hopefully, I'll not have dilated/effaced anymore.

Preterm delivery 2 months early

Tuesday is our normal "doctor day" and I was so ready to go. I had a lot of questions to ask Dr. Diggs. Sunday was not a good day for Ashlynne and me. It was filled with back aches, menstrual like cramps, and contractions ( not the painful kind ). It got to the point that I almost called him because I was concerned. I felt her moving alot so I knew she was ok. It wasn't until about 7 that evening that I started to feel better. Monday was alot better for us. So today when we went in for our weekly visit I mentioned that how I felt on Sunday but that there was no spotting or bleeding. Dr. Diggs performed a transvaginal scan on ultrasound to look at my cervix and sure enough there was the problem. The length of my cervix was already shorter than it should be. The coincidental thing was that I had just looked this up because someone else I know was put on bed rest for a shortening cervix. SoI had a SMALL idea of what it meant. Normal is about 3.0 and higher, 2.5 is fair, and anything less than that is indicative of preterm labor. Well, mine was 1.28. A LOT lower than the 2.5. I was in such a shock b/c he pretty much confirmed what I already knew...that Ashlynne isn't going to make it to her due date of July 15th. I was still a little unsure what a shortening cervical length meant so I looked it up online. From what I've read, it means the cervix is already starting to thin out or efface. One website I went to said that 1.5 and less means an effacement of about 50%. So there it is. I haven't dilated yet. Dr. Diggs said that at this point, I'm too far along to be given anything to stop it ( progesterone and something else) so it's just a matter of time. I'm pretty confident because almost a month ago when I was admitted to the hospital with bleeding I was given steroid shots to speed up the maturity of her lungs. We looked at her on the screen today and she's "breathing" and now weighs about 4 pounds (3 lbs, 15oz). So, my mom says I just need to get my bag packed and have it at the door.

Now it's not a matter of IF but WHEN I will go into preterm labor...although Dr. Diggs said that Sunday's discomfort was a little preterm labor.

It's almost over....